2026 NHL Draft Round 2: The 32 Prospects Most Likely to Go on Day Two
Table of Contents
Round 2, less ceremony
Day two of the NHL Draft is where a third of a class finds its home. Round 2 picks turn into NHL regulars at a much higher rate than fans remember — recent second-rounders include Matthew Knies, Brock Faber, Lukas Reichel and Yegor Sharangovich. The floor for value is real.
Below: the 32 prospects most likely to come off the board in Round 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft, synthesized from Foley's midterm top-100, Tankathon's big board, and NHL Central Scouting's final rankings. Presented in approximate rank order. Team-to-pick matching is skipped for Round 2 — the Round 1 mock is where the team order lives.
The 32
33. Markus Ruck, F, Medicine Hat (WHL)
Younger of the Ruck brothers. Strong junior-level shooter, still filling out. The Medicine Hat development environment has produced real NHLers lately.
34. Brooks Rogowski, C, Oshawa (OHL)
Skilled OHL center, plays beside Ben Danford at Oshawa. Creative first touch, needs to add strength to handle NHL-level board battles.
35. Gleb Pugachyov, RW, Torpedo (KHL/MHL)
Russian right winger splitting time between Torpedo's men's and junior levels. Pro-environment acclimation as a 17-year-old gives him a head start most of this tier doesn't have.
36. Jaxon Cover, LW, London Knights (OHL)
Teammate of Easton Cowan's in London. Scoring touch, top-six OHL minutes, needs to round out the defensive side.
37. Tommy Bleyl, RD, Moncton (QMJHL)
Right-shot Q-leaguer, 6-foot-1, physical. Second-pair projection in a class where the right side runs thin quickly.
38. Ben Macbeath, LD, Calgary (WHL)
Steady left-shot D, plays big minutes in Calgary. Not flashy, but the WHL pro-style defensive foundation is a selling point.
39. Nikita Shcherbakov, LD, Salavat Yulaev Ufa (MHL/KHL)
Russian blueliner with puck-moving instincts. Draft position depends entirely on which teams are still willing to spend top-100 picks in Russia.
40. Pierce Mbuyi, LW, Owen Sound (OHL)
OHL winger with power-forward projection. Mbuyi's physical presence at 18 is genuinely rare for a non-overage draft eligible.
41. Casey Mutryn, RW, USNTDP U18
6-foot-3 right wing from the US National Team Development Program. Tooled-up project; one of the bigger upside bets in this range.
42. Adam Valentini, F, Michigan (NCAA)
NCAA forward who turned heads late. College program doesn't rush development; the pro timeline stretches out a year or two.
43. Alessandro Di Iorio, C, Sarnia (OHL)
OHL center with strong compete level. Defensive foundation is already pro-grade; the offensive game has room to grow.
44. Beckham Edwards, C, Sarnia (OHL)
Di Iorio's Sarnia linemate. Smaller but quicker through the neutral zone. Creative passer in tight spaces.
45. Giorgos Pantelas, RD, Brandon (WHL)
Right-shot WHL defender. Smooth skater, solid on retrievals. A team prioritizing right-shot D depth pushes him up the board.
46. Thomas Vandenberg, C, Ottawa (OHL)
OHL center, strong two-way profile. Ottawa 67's players often end up at the top of their respective rounds because of the league's scouting exposure.
47. Axel Elofsson, RD, Örebro U20 (J20 Nationell)
Swedish right-shot defenseman, raw but skilled. Most likely to be drafted by a team with Swedish scouts who have sat through more Örebro games than the public ranking industry.
48. Ryder Cali, C, North Bay (OHL)
OHL center with versatility. Plays wing when needed. Reliable checker with underrated offensive pop.
49. Tobias Trejbal, G, Youngstown (USHL)
First goalie off the board in most mocks. USHL reps with NCAA commitment. Goalie picks this high are rare; one team decides Trejbal is worth the lottery ticket.
50. Samu Alalauri, RD, Pelicans U20 (SM-sarja)
Finnish right-shot defender playing junior in the Pelicans organization. Prospect archetype teams buy into at this stage of the draft.
51. Adam Nemec, F, Sudbury (OHL)
6-foot Czech-born OHL winger. Late-blooming offensive game, strong off the puck. Fourth-line projection with upside.
52. Chase Harrington, F, Spokane (WHL)
WHL winger, scoring touch, plays through contact. A classic mid-round bet on a player who scored more than his ranking number.
53. Jakub Vanecek, LD, Tri-City (WHL)
Czech-born WHL defender. Solid positioning, not a standout skater. Depth-defender projection.
54. Lavr Gashilov, C, Avto Yekaterinburg (MHL)
Russian junior center with NHL-translatable hands. The usual Russian-junior caveats apply on track record and transfer.
55. Victor Plante, F, USNTDP U18
NTDP forward; team's role players at the U-18 level still get drafted based on tools and program pedigree.
56. Vladimír Dravecký, RD, Brantford (OHL)
Slovak right-shot defender in the OHL. Brantford playing him in all situations accelerates his scouting profile.
57. Luke Schairer, RD, USNTDP U18 (NCAA bound)
NTDP defender with NCAA commitment. College program means the development timeline is four years, not three.
58. Oscar Holmertz, C, Linköping U20 (J20 Nationell)
Swedish junior center. Late-round Swedish centers have hit at a decent rate over the last five drafts.
59. Mikey Berchild, F, USNTDP U18
NTDP winger, reliable role player at the U-18 level. NHL projection floor is higher than his ceiling.
60. Lars Steiner, RW, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)
QMJHL right winger with positional scoring. Not an elite skater, but reads the game above his skill level.
61. Dmitri Borichev, G, Loko-76 Yaroslavl (MHL)
Russian goaltending prospect. Second goalie off the board in most mocks. Yaroslavl's development system has produced NHL goalies before.
62. Vilho Vanhatalo, RW/LW, Tappara (SM-sarja)
Finnish winger playing top-league minutes in Tappara's junior-to-pro system. Projection is top-nine with room to move up.
63. Cooper Williams, F, Saskatoon (WHL)
WHL center/wing. Saskatoon's playoff runs give him a strong visibility bump against high-end competition.
64. Tomáš Galvas, LD, Liberec (Czechia)
Czech pro-league defender, 17 years old playing men's hockey. Scouting industry's best late-round European bet in many lists.
Why Round 2 matters for the Leafs
The Leafs don't own a 2026 2nd-round pick. Per the draft page, their original 2nd-rounder was dealt to Chicago in February 2023. Unless Toronto acquires a 2nd between now and draft day — possible but unlikely — they skip this round entirely and don't pick again until the 3rd round.
That's a real cost. Round 2 is where prospects in the 50-to-110 career-games range get found. The structural thinness of the Leafs' prospect pool is partly a function of giving up too many of these picks in the Matthews era, and 2026 is another year of it.
The Round 3 piece is where the Leafs come back into the mock — they hold their own 3rd-rounder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Leafs have a 2026 2nd-round pick?
No. Toronto's original 2026 2nd-round pick was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks on February 27, 2023. Unless the Leafs acquire a 2nd-rounder in a trade between now and June 26, they will not pick in Round 2 of the 2026 NHL Draft.
How deep is the 2026 NHL Draft class?
The 2026 class is considered deep at the top — Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg headline a strong first round — but grades as average-to-above-average overall. Central Scouting's final rankings list 100+ North American skaters and 60+ international prospects.
How do NHL teams value Round 2 picks?
Second-round picks regularly turn into NHL regulars. Recent notable 2nd-rounders include Matthew Knies, Brock Faber, Lukas Reichel and Yegor Sharangovich. Hit rates drop meaningfully after the 60th overall pick, but the difference between late Round 1 and early Round 2 is smaller than casual fans often assume.
Who is the first goalie typically projected for the 2026 Draft?
Tobias Trejbal of the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms is ranked as the first goaltender on most 2026 draft boards, typically going late in Round 2 or early Round 3. Brady Knowling (USNTDP U-18) is the top-ranked North American goalie by NHL Central Scouting.
How many NHL draft picks do the Leafs have in 2026?
Per the current public draft pick inventory, the Leafs own or are set to inherit picks in Rounds 1 (conditionally), 3, 4 (from Anaheim), 5 (originally plus a conditional pick from Colorado/Boston/Philadelphia), 6 (from San Jose), and 7. They do not own a Round 2 pick.
